Roldão family fires executives and resumes command of the cash and carry giant

With the promise of professionalizing management, Roldão Atacadista hired a group of executives about a year ago.

The plan was to improve governance and invest a total of R$330 million over the next 18 months. The money would be used to open 11 stores and reach a turnover of R$ 4.25 billion in 2021.

But the attempt at professionalization seems to have not worked: not even the CEO hired at the time, Sérgio Leite, is in office anymore.

The company confirms the mass replacements. “In this recomposition process, in addition to the resignation request of the former president and commercial and operations leadership, we opted for the termination of the leaders of the controlling, HR, financial, marketing and legal areas”, said the company’s current CEO, Eduardo Roldão, in note.

The reason, however, is not clear. “We understand that it is common to have strategic cuts in reformulation processes,” he said.

backstage

Even before the announcement of professionalization, the company was already known for a lot of interference from the family and little retention of executives. The signs in this direction are many.

The businesswoman Claudia Elisa, who had been chosen to preside over the company’s board of directors at the end of 2020, had already left the position in March of this year – who now gives the cards on the board is former CEO Ricardo Roldão, from the family founder.

The financial director, Gonzalo Morales, lasted even less. Hired in March 2021, he was released in April this year.

Other departures followed: the CEO, Sergio Leite, and the commercial director, Rodrigo Silva Lima, resigned in April and May of this year, respectively.

The two went to Assaí, the cash and carry chain of Grupo Casino — Leite as director of new business and Lima as manager of the same area.

Before moving to Roldão, both worked in subsidiaries of Casino: Leite in Assaí and Lima, in Compre Bem.

Occupation of positions

In this process, Eduardo Roldão took over as CEO in early May, putting the family back in charge of the company, which has already hired a series of new executives.

“To replace these positions, we hired Fatima Bonfim, for the administrative vice-presidency; Daniel Maziero, for controllership director; Marcio Mendes, for operations and expansion director; Thais Marques, as legal manager; Denise Freitas, as HR manager; Tuca Sardinha to manage the marketing area, and Lilian Soler, as engineering and maintenance manager”, says the president.

However, the positions of financial and commercial directors, in addition to the commercial vice-presidency, remain open.

For experts heard by the report, it is common for family businesses that try to professionalize to go back. Emotional involvement with the business often makes it difficult to comply with the decisions of hired managers.

In the case of Roldão, the family’s eagerness to expand seems to have been one of the pivots of the break with the contracted management.

“We continue with the previously announced objectives: expansion planning and, like any company, increase our revenues. Therefore, the restructuring in the directive area”, said the CEO.

Of the five stores that it planned to open in 2021, Roldão Atacadista had opened four by mid-December, reaching 39 establishments in São Paulo.

“It is worth mentioning, however, that we maintained our staff of more than 5,000 employees in our 39 units in the State of São Paulo and created around 800 new jobs in the last half of 2021 alone with the inauguration of four new and modern units in Salto. , Itu, Jundiaí and Mogi Guaçu, in the interior of São Paulo”, said the executive, in a note to the report of the Estadão/Broadcast.

The information is from the newspaper. The State of São Paulo.